Bond’s boss wears Indian couture

When Dame Judi Dench wore a powder grey coat embroidered with white chikankari in floral motifs with cigarette pants to the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards on November 25, you didn’t have to guess it was Abu Sandeep couture.

The grand old lady of British entertainment, and the only person who could scare James Bond, has developed a close relationship with the label’s founders, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla.

“In the Bond movie, The World Is Not Enough (1999), Sophie Marceau wore some of our garments since she was playing a Turkish woman,” recalls Jani, adding, “Dame Judi loved the clothes, and mentioned to costume designer Lindy Hemming that she’d like to meet us. And we’ve been designing for her ever since.”

Though Dame Judi’s limited patience and high standards are legendary, Jani insists their professional relationship has been speed bump-free.

“The beauty of our rapport is that she trusts us blindly, and never imposes any restrictions. Only once did she say, ‘I’d like to wear something blood-red.’ And when she wore it to the event, she accessorized with a long-stemmed red rose.”

Working with the British icon for over a decade allowed Jani and Khosla to ask her to launch their coffee table book, India Fantastique, in London.

“She’s very English, so she’s always slightly formal. But whenever we’ve asked her for anything, she’s never refused,” Jani says.